Mendota, Illinois

Coordinates: 41°33′12″N 89°07′57″W / 41.55333°N 89.13250°W / 41.55333; -89.13250
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mendota, Illinois
City
ZIP code
61342
Area code815, 779
FIPS code17-48333
GNIS feature ID2395095[1]
WebsiteOfficial website

Mendota is a city in

Chicago, 70 miles east of Moline and 55 miles south of Rockford. The current mayor is David W. Boelk, an independent
elected to a four-year term.

The name "Mendota" is derived from a Lakota word meaning "junction of two trails", which was found appropriate for the city since there was a nearby railroad junction for the Illinois Central Railroad and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.[5][6]

History

Mendota depot ca.1898

In summer of 1853, the Illinois Central Railroad was completed and crossed the existing Chicago and Aurora Railroad. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad completed the crossing at the present site of Mendota. By the following year, the population had grown to more than 1,000 and the town was home to saloons, hotels, and various shops. The town was incorporated as a village in 1855 and reincorporated as a town in 1859. By 1860, the town was also home to churches of 5 denominations.[citation needed]

With the availability of the railroads to facilitate export, several manufactures of items ranging from

city government on April 9, 1867.[6][7]

A library was opened on September 8, 1874, with 1700 books secured by donation. It was acquired by the city government in 1894. The original building was replaced in 1905 by a new

Carnegie Library.[2]

A new Union station was opened on February 23, 1888, to replace the Passenger House, which was the original depot that had burned down in 1885. The new building contained a hotel, restaurants, and separate waiting areas for passengers and railroad staff. Because of falling revenue and ridership, much of the station was torn down in 1942. The current Mendota station is the only remaining portion of the original structure.[8]

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Mendota has a total area of 5.096 square miles (13.20 km2), of which 5 square miles (12.95 km2) (or 98.12%) is land and 0.096 square miles (0.25 km2) (or 1.88%) is water.[9]

dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform bacteria concentrations.[10]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18601,934—
18703,54683.4%
18804,14216.8%
18903,542−14.5%
19003,7365.5%
19103,8061.9%
19203,9343.4%
19304,0081.9%
19404,2155.2%
19505,12921.7%
19606,15420.0%
19706,90212.2%
19807,1343.4%
19907,018−1.6%
20007,2723.6%
20107,3721.4%
20207,061−4.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]

As of the

Latino
of any race were 29.47% of the population.

There were 2,788 households, out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.46% were married couples living together, 15.42% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 26.26% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.24% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 2.42.

The city's age distribution consisted of 23.7% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $58,974, and the median income for a family was $65,985. Males had a median income of $43,926 versus $26,643 for females. The

poverty line
, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

A number of businesses operate within Mendota including :[13]

  • Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a grain processor.
  • Del Monte Foods, a food processing company. The Del Monte plant was slated to close at the end of the 2019 packing season,[14] until a buyer was found later that year. The purchase is set to be completed in spring 2020.[15]

Arts and culture

The Mendota Sweet Corn Festival[16] attracts thousands of visitors each August; it features a parade, carnival, beer garden with live bands, free sweet corn cooked in a vintage steam engine, and other special events. The city closes down several streets in the downtown area to host the annual event which is sponsored by Del Monte Foods. The Mendota Tri-County Fair[17] is held every Labor Day weekend at the Mendota Fairgrounds. The fair hosts a carnival, beer garden, and several other events.

Museums

The Hume-Carnegie Museum[18] showcases artifacts of local history, including items manufactured in Mendota and a small collection pertaining to Wild Bill Hickok, who was born in nearby Troy Grove. It is located in a former Carnegie library building in Veteran's Park.[19]

The Union Depot Railroad Museum[20] houses the current Amtrak station, several rooms of vintage railroad artifacts, passenger train cars from the 1930s and 1940s. It is also home to CB&Q No. 4978, a 2-8-2 class Locomotive built in September 1923 by Baldwin Locomotive Works.[21]

The

Breaking the Prairie Museum[22] is a small barn replica showcasing a rotating display with one large item (a vintage tractor or large item of farm husbandry) and several smaller items. Adjacent to the barn is "The Country Chapel", a small church which is owned by the museum. Completed in 2004, it houses a restored pump organ from the 1880s. It is closed to the public, however special tours can be arranged by contacting the Mendota Historical Society Office.[23]

Parks and recreation

The city has two man made lakes, Lake Mendota and Lake Kakusha, used for boating and fishing. Mendota also maintains a community swimming pool as well as several parks including Snyders Grove, a 104-acre (0.42 km2) reserve/park.[24]

Education

Mendota has four public schools and one private school. The three public grade schools: Blackstone, Lincoln, and Northbrook are part of

Roman Catholic Parish[26]
has a private school which educates students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Aurora University was originally chartered as Mendota College on the north side of Mendota where the high school was located from 1917 to 2003.[27]

Wartburg College (now located in Waverly, Iowa) was located in Mendota from 1875 to 1885.[28]

Media

Mendota has one weekly newspaper, The Mendota Reporter[29]

Mendota has two commercialized radio stations.

FM radio
stations
Frequency Call sign Name Format Owner City
100.1 FM WGLC-FM World's Greatest Little City Country music Studstill Media Mendota, Illinois
102.9 FM WMKB Mex Mix Regional Mexican KM Broadcasting Earlville, Illinois

Infrastructure

Transportation

Mendota is served by U.S.

Carl Sandburg between Chicago and Quincy, and the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Kansas City and Los Angeles. (The California Zephyr
passes through without stopping.) There are also two small airports near-by.

Notable people

References

  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mendota, Illinois
  2. ^ a b "About Us/History". Graves Hume Public Library. October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "2020 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. US Census Bureau. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 205.
  6. ^ a b c The Past and present of La Salle County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, general and local statistics, map of La Salle County, history of Illinois, Constitution of the United States, miscellaneous matters, etc, etc. Chicago: H.F. Kett & Co. 1877. pp. 314–323.
  7. ^ Illinois Central Magazine. Illinois Central Railroad Company. 1922. p. 43.
  8. ^ Mendota, Illinois; Great American Stations (Amtrak)
  9. ^ "G001 – Geographic Identifiers – 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  10. ^ CDM Smith (November 1, 2014). Little Vermilion River (LaSalle County) Watershed TMDL Stage 1 Report (PDF) (Report). Vol. 1.
  11. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  12. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  13. ^ "Mendota Manufacturers Archived 2011-10-10 at the Wayback Machine." Retrieved on October 16, 2011.
  14. ^ "Del Monte closing corn-packing plant in northern Illinois". Mendota, Illinois. Associated Press. August 21, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  15. ^ "Del Monte Plant Finds Buyer in Mendota". WGLC. Studstill Media.
  16. ^ "The Mendota Sweet Corn Festival." Retrieved on February 19, 2011.
  17. ^ "The Mendota Tri-County Fair." Retrieved on February 19, 2011.
  18. ^ "Hume-Carnegie Museum." Retrieved on February 19, 2011.
  19. ^ "HUME-CARNEGIE MUSEUM". www.mendotamuseums.org.
  20. ^ "The Union Depot Railroad Museum." Retrieved on February 19, 2011.
  21. ^ "CB&Q No. 4978, 2-8-2, Steam Locomotive, Mendota, IL - Locomotives on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
  22. ^ "Breaking the Prairie Museum." Retrieved on February 19, 2011.
  23. ^ "Breaking the Prairie Museum :: About". www.farmmuseum.info.
  24. ^ "Mendota Parks, Recreation, and Pool." Retrieved on February 19, 2011.
  25. ^ "Illinois Interactive Report Card." Retrieved February 19, 2011.
  26. ^ "Holy Cross Catholic Parish." Retrieved February 19, 2011.
  27. ^ "Tracks of Time: Mendota, Illinois 1853–1978" p. 138
  28. ^ "History of Wartburg College Archived 2009-04-10 at the Wayback Machine." Wartburg College. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  29. ^ "The Mendota Reporter." Retrieved February 11, 2011.
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